Toward complex matter: Supramolecular chemistry and self-organization

As the wind of time blows into the sails of space, the unfolding of the universe nurtures the evolution of matter under the pressure of information. From divided to condensed and on to organized, living, and thinking matter, the path is toward an increase in complexity through self-organization.

Thus emerges the prime question set to science, in particular to chemistry, the science of the structure and transformation of matter: how does matter become complex? What are the steps and the processes that lead from the elementary particle to the thinking organism, the (present!) entity of highest complexity?

And there are two linked questions: an ontogenetic one, how has this happened, how has matter become complex in the history of the universe leading up to the evolution of the biological world, and an epigenetic one, what other and what higher forms of complex matter can there be to evolve, are there to be created?

Chemistry provides means to interrogate the past, explore the present, and build bridges to the future.

Molecular chemistry has created a wide range of ever more sophisticated molecules and materials and has developed a very powerful arsenal of procedures for constructing them from atoms linked by covalent bonds.

Beyond the molecule, supramolecular chemistry aims at developing highly complex chemical systems from components interacting by noncovalent intermolecular forces (1, 2). It has over the last quarter of a century grown into a major field and has fueled numerous developments at the interfaces with biology and physics, thus giving rise to the emergence and establishment of supramolecular science and technology, as a broad multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary domain providing a highly fertile ground for the creativity of scientists from all origins. The breadth and depth of its scope is evidenced and illustrated by the wide selection of many of …